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Apple’s software confirms iPhone 8 design, face unlock

The iPhone 8 launch is around the corner. There’s a lot of uncertainty with how the phone will look and what features Apple will introduce. Many rumors point to Apple removing Touch ID to make room for the edge-to-edge display. They’d replace the Touch ID sensor with facial recognition, but there are also rumors claiming Apple will just put the Touch ID sensor on the back – similar to other Android handsets.

Now we have a leak from @stroughtonsmith. Steve found some references to Apple’s latest iPhone on the HomePod firmware. In his first tweet, he references the code which reveals the existence of an infra-red face unlock in BiometricKit. Another tweet, he was able to extract an icon of the iPhone 8. With the icon, we see a bezel-free iPhone with a small top bar, similar to what the Essential phone did.

We now know for a 100% what the iPhone 8 looks like

We still don’t know what Apple is going to do about Touch ID or whether the BiometricKit will be available at launch. I still don’t believe Apple will ditch Touch ID for facial recognition, but Apple is known for doing crazy, off the cuff standard changes. Still, the final design of the iPhone 8 is all but confirmed.

From the small-ish icon, you see a bezel-limited design, with a small top bezel that doesn’t extend all the way across the screen. Essential had a small drop down bezel at the top for the camera, and Apple is doing the same. If there is facial recognition on the phone, the top bezel will likely hide the cameras. Apple will also need to hide a speaker for phone calls in the bezel area.

Let me know what you think! Are you excited for the iPhone 8 design or do you think Apple should have kept Touch ID?

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